#4988207 - 08/25/10 03:23 PM
sooo... how do you go about getting work?
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Voltron
Post Master Supreme
Registered: 08/17/01
Posts: 28789
Loc: Not Found
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For those of you who get paid to shoot, how do you guys solicit work? I'm a few steps away from exploring the possibility to get some work to pay for my addiction. How do you go about getting work/paid gigs? I actually wouldn't mind going out and doing a few as a portfolio builder first, which would also help build my confidence some. I'd like to actually shoot high school sports if possible, sent an email to the local town newspaper to see if they needed anyone but haven't heard back from them yet. i'm looking on craigslist for ads as a second shooter for wedding photographers to earn some scratch. I realize that once you choose a direction you kind of have to stick with it because the cost of additional lenses is steep.
I've already talked to a buddy of mine who owns a bar/club in DC and asked him about shooting some events at his place. Also talked to another one of my friends who has a band and asked him if they needed/wanted a photog for their shows or to take some shots at their band practice. Both seemed interested. I wouldn't charge at first, it would be good to just to build my portfolio off of that. There is a field near my home where I can go to shoot youth sports, like little league baseball. How do I approach that with all the parents around. I figure I can take some shots and possibly sell them to the parents. I did notice that there was a dude out there one time with a long lens and set up, either a parent or someone like-minded trying to sell some photos.
Ideas, thoughts? My brain is dead, sorry if this is incoherent.
Also, currently running Rebel XT, 28-135mm IS USM lens, nifty-fifty, 430EXII flash. About to pull the trigger on a 70-200mm 2.8L. Should I go IS or Non-IS? The one I'm looking at is non-IS. Thanks.
Edited by crimson773 (08/25/10 03:24 PM)
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#4988516 - 08/25/10 04:46 PM
Re: sooo... how do you go about getting work?
[Re: Voltron]
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Lafora
Post Master Sr
Registered: 12/16/01
Posts: 4623
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shooting kids' sports (if done properly) is fairly lucrative. Having said that, it's a LOT of work and requires proper logistics. The money to be had is only at big tournaments; weekly house league games? Forget about it; not worth the time or the hassle. You don't go approaching parents randomly; not in this day and age. The parents most likely wouldn't be too keen on it; at least that's what I've seen in my area.
You actually start from the top of the food chain in sports and work down. At least that's the way I did it. Maybe it was purely coincidental; but when I first started I wasn't looking to shoot kids' sports as a revenue generator until it got to a point where it was too hard to ignore. Hell, I wasn't looking to shoot kids' sports at all except a very close and long time friend asked me several times to shoot some of his kids' soccer and baseball games.
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#4988742 - 08/25/10 06:19 PM
Re: sooo... how do you go about getting work?
[Re: Voltron]
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Nate047
Post Master Supreme
Registered: 03/03/03
Posts: 28558
Loc: La La Land, CA
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My advice is to find something you enjoy shooting, and get as good as you can at that type of photography, while still enjoying it. Once you have a decently strong portfolio it won't be AS hard to get noticed by the right kind of people. Remember that every asshole has a DSLR now days, so you have to actually be good, and be personable/professional/not a jackass.
I see no point in shooting anything that you don't enjoy, especially if photography is not your 9-5 job. SO if you like creeping around little kids sporting events and shit, that's your own business  but seriously tho, do what you love and if you're lucky (and good at it) the money will maybe come someday.
FWIW the way I started was by working for my dad at his studio in Portland, and then later on I knew a guy who knew of a job opening at Modified. So much of it is really circumstantial and knowing the right people.
Also, you'll never be "rich" as a photographer. Unless you're DS.
Nate 
_________________________
natehasslerphoto.comFlickrFacebook"Nate047 > NateSTL" - TenTwelve "As long as I have a face, you'll always have a place to sit." - SlowBlackCar *insert picture of stock Fit here* 
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#4989766 - 08/26/10 07:25 AM
Re: sooo... how do you go about getting work?
[Re: GB]
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Voltron
Post Master Supreme
Registered: 08/17/01
Posts: 28789
Loc: Not Found
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Funny thing, about 10 years ago, a week or two after I bought my Canon Rebel 2000 35mm film camera, I went to a car meet and started taking some pictures of some of the cars. I was approached by several people asking me if I was a professional photographer. Coincidentally it was my first roll of film that I had taken pictures with on any camera. Had I known then that I could have milked it, I would have. Oh well.
As for sports, I love sports. I love taking action pictures. I really love to take pictures of my children playing and doing stuff, especially my son with the expressions on his face, it really captures his innocence. Anyway, I'm not looking to become Andy Worhol or DS, but a little extra scratch on the side to allow my to buy more stuff would be cool. hell, if DS would even allow me to tag along side him for a shoot that'd be cool. i'd lug all his shit for him even if I don't get to touch a camera, or if he'd want some "behind the scenes" shots. Practice, practice, practice, that's what it's all about.
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